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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.
One of my favorite ways to spend a summer afternoon is grilling dinner. This Grilled Salmon with Lemon Rosemary Butter is one of our favorite new recipes–and I’m excited to be sharing it with you today!
I’m also sharing some of my knowledge about choosing fish at the grocery store. If you’ve been here for a bit you know that I love sharing recipes, but my true passion is behind the recipes–what food we choose to put into our bodies. Store bought fish is a topic I’m passionate about!
Where’s the recipe?
Here at My Crazy Good Life, I love sharing recipe wins–those recipes that you find online and the directions help you make the exact same meal that you see here, whatever your cooking experience is.
Because of this, I share a ton of information about ingredients, recipe tips, and detailed instructions in my post. If you’d like to skip over all of that and get straight to the recipe, scroll right down to the printable recipe for this Grilled Salmon with Herb Butter at the bottom of the post.
Why Open Nature®?
Open Nature brand is sustainably sourced–that means wild caught and contains zero preservatives. It used to be difficult to find store bought seafood that is wild caught, but the Open Nature brand is sold right in your local Albertsons Companies stores.
Alberstons stores partners with FishWise in its efforts to offer responsibly and sustainably sourced seafood–this is important to me to see when I’m buying seafood.
For this meal, I shopped at Safeway, but you can also find Open Nature seafood at Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb, and Vons. Safeway also offers Grocery Delivery and Drive Up & Go™ for convenient ways to shop!
Sockeye Salmon vs Traditional Salmon:
Sockeye Salmon has a deep red flesh and is high in omega-3. It has a stronger “fish” flavor than traditional salmon, but grills well. The color of sockeye salmon has to do with their diet.
Traditional Salmon has a bit more fat than Sockeye, and tends to be not as dry.
The type of salmon you like is a personal preference, and both have great nutritional properties.
Ingredients:
- Wild Caught Sockeye Salmon Fillets You can also use regular salmon, or any other fish. This recipe is super versatile!
- Butter I used unsalted Irish butter because it’s a bit richer and creamier than traditional butter.
- Fresh Rosemary You can use dried, but trust me on this one and go grab some fresh.
- Fresh Sage Same as the rosemary–you’ll be thankful you bought fresh!
- Fresh Lemon Just one! 🍋
- Foil or a foil pan I explain which one I use and why below!
- Olive oil or nonstick cooking spray
Recipe Tips:
- If you’re in a hurry to make your butter, preheat your grill to 425º and set your butter next to the grill on a glass plate. It’ll warm in no time.
- You can slice your lemon after you zest it and place some slices on top of your salmon and in your foil pan. You can also save them to squeeze lemon juice on the salmon after it’s cooked.
Instructions:
Time needed: 40 minutes
You’ll need some time for the fresh herb butter, but if you make extra now you’ll have it all ready for next time! This recipe takes about 20 minutes for the butter, then about 20 minutes to cook on the grill from thawed.
- Make your herb butter
Allow about 1/2 stick of butter to melt to room temperature. Pull the leaves off of half of your rosemary and sage and either add them to your food processor or dice them super small. Zest your lemon and add the lemon zest to your food processor.
Add the butter (and the herbs if they’re not in it already) to your food processor and allow them to blend together.
If you’d like to be fancy, use a teaspoon to scrape the lemon herb butter and roll it into balls. Place each ball on a small plate and put them in the freezer. Freezing the butter isn’t necessary for the recipe. - Preheat the grill
Preheat your grill to medium-high or 425º.
You can grill these right on your grill grates, but I like to use searing plates on my grill because it cooks so evenly when I use them. - Prepare your foil pan
Spray the bottom of a foil pan with nonstick cooking oil to prevent sticking. Place your salmon in the foil pan, skin down.
If you’d like to make grilled salmon in a foil pouch, place a 12 inch long piece of foil and note where the 6 inch mark is. Spray the bottom half of the foil and place your salmon on the foil. Fold the top over to close your pouch.
Top with the remaining herbs and garlic butter. I like to use 2 teaspoons of herb butter for each piece of salmon. - Grill!
Grill your salmon for 15-20 minutes if thawed, checking the temperature regularly. You can use charcoal or gas grill for this.
If your salmon is frozen, no problem! You’ll want to cook it at the same temperature, for 30-40 minutes.
Your salmon is cooked when it reaches (and sustains) 145º. - Serve!
Serve immediately and add some kosher salt and pepper to taste, if you’d like.
How to grill salmon with skin
No need to stress about cooking fish with the skin on! The skin softens as it cooks, so you’ll be able to serve portions as is (with skin on) and as you eat the salmon, you’ll break off pieces with your fork and the skin will separate easily.
You can also flip the salmon pieces over after they’re cooked and remove the skin, but I find it much easier if everyone removes their own as they’re eating.
How to make compound herb butter:
Once you make this lemon rosemary herb butter, you’ll always keep some in your freezer–it’s that good!
- Allow your butter to come to room temperature. It’ll be easier to mix this way.
- My food processor couldn’t get the fresh herbs small enough, so I used a kitchen knife to dice the rosemary and sage.
- Add lemon zest, butter, and herbs to your food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, just mix them up really well.
- Your butter is ready to use now, but if you have some time or if you made extra, use a teaspoon to scrape it into balls and stick them in the freezer. Mini cupcake tins work great for holding butter balls!
- Looking for flavor ideas? Try my Chive & Dill Compound Butter or Dill & Rosemary Compound Butter.
Foil packet vs foil pan?
By far, I prefer using foil pans or tins. They are sturdy, and I don’t have to worry about them bending the wrong way and leaking like homemade foil packs can. They also come with lids so I can easily use them to meal prep!
I love grilling seafood, and I love how easy it is to grill with foil pans. Easy clean up is important for me, and I love that I’m not stressing about the fish sticking to the grill grates.
There are so many ways you can marinate and season seafood–another favorite for us is using coconut aminos to make a homemade teriyaki sauce (reduced sodium soy sauce works too!).
Healthy Eating Plans
21 Day Fix/Ultimate Portion Fix: For each 3/4 cup serving, count one red container. Each portion of herb butter is about 1 1/2 tsp, so reduce those as you need to to account for your teaspoons.
Weight Watchers: For 3 oz salmon and 1 1/2 tsp butter, count 3 Green Plan Points | 3 Blue Plan Points | 3 Purple Plan Points
2B Mindset: Salmon fits perfectly into your 2B meals as a protein. For lunch, be sure to use half of your plate for vegetables, 1/4 for protein, and 1/4 for an FFC. For dinner, this salmon is perfect as 25% of your plate and fill the remaining 75% with vegetables.
Need a delicious side dish for this salmon recipe?
- Brown Rice and Quinoa
- Garlic Rosemary Smashed Potatoes
- Brown Rice
- Cauliflower Steaks
- White Rice
- Turnip Fries
To make the carrots pictured above, peel them and add to foil tray. Add 1 cup of water and place them on the grill as you’re prepping the salmon filets. Allow to cook for 30-40 minutes.
Grilled Salmon with Lemon Rosemary Butter
Equipment
- Foil Pans
- Food processor
- Kitchen Knife
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter I prefer unsalted
- .75 oz rosemary fresh
- .75 oz fresh sage
- 1 lemon
- 12 oz sockeye salmon Look for wild caught
Instructions
- Allow the butter to melt to room temperature. Pull the leaves off of half of the rosemary and sage and either add them to your food processor or dice them super small. 2 tbsp butter, .75 oz rosemary, .75 oz fresh sage
- Zest the lemon and add zest to the food processor. Save remaining lemon to garnish salmon in the pan or squeeze over cooked salmon. 1 lemon
- Add the butter (and the herbs if they're not in it already) to your food processor and allow them to blend together. You can also mix this by hand if you'd like.
- If you'd like to be fancy, use a teaspoon to scrape the butter and roll it into balls. Place each ball on a small plate and put them in the freezer. Freezing the butter isn't necessary for the recipe.
- Preheat your grill to medium-high or 425º. You can grill these right on your grill grates, but I like to use searing plates on my grill because it cooks so evenly when I use them.
- Spray the bottom of a foil pan with nonstick cooking oil. Place your salmon in the foil pan, skin down.
- If you'd like to make a foil pouch for your salmon, place a 12 inch long piece of foil and note where the 6 inch mark is. Spray the bottom half of the foil and place your salmon on the foil. Fold the top over to close your pouch. 12 oz sockeye salmon
- Top with the remaining herbs and garlic butter. I like to use 2 teaspoons of herb butter for each piece of salmon.
- Grill your salmon for 15-20 minutes if thawed, checking the temperature regularly. If your salmon is frozen, no problem! You'll want to cook it at the same temperature for 30-40 minutes.
- Your salmon is finished cooking when it reaches (and sustains) 145º.
Notes
- If you’re in a hurry to make your butter, preheat your grill to 425º and set your butter next to the grill on a glass plate. It’ll warm in no time.
- You can slice your lemon after you zest it and place some slices on top of your salmon and in your foil pan. You can also save them to squeeze lemon juice on the salmon after it’s cooked.
Nutrition
Make This Recipe?
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The rosemary butter makes this so yummy! Definitely a keeper!
Yummy! This was the best thing I’ve grilled all week. And we grill pretty much every night. Using FRESH herbs really made this dish fantastic. I’ll have to use fresh herbs ALL The time now! lol. THanks for such a great recipe.